So tour 4 begins for real, and our first performance sees us at Chandler's Ford near Southampton. This was a new venue for the tours, so it was a brilliant opportunity to get to know some new people. But of course people are never properly new - Helen Cornick, one of the organisers, used to sing in the Salisbury choir, and Chandler's Ford Methodist was the venue for one of Roger's first ever ministry trips 30 years ago...After what seemed like eternity on the A34, the majority of the team arrived. We were without Ann Walters for the weekend as h
er brother was getting married, and also Clair Rogoff was ill. Clair being ill led to some problems, as she is the understudy for the part of Zillah, and Alyson who played that part was due to be arriving late after a night shift at work. Several of the team were pretty under the weather too - Ann Steer was uncertain she'd make it on stage, which would have decimated the cast. But God is good. Alyson arrived before Helen had embarrased herself too much trying to play her part in the rehearsal, and Ann was well enough to perform.
er brother was getting married, and also Clair Rogoff was ill. Clair being ill led to some problems, as she is the understudy for the part of Zillah, and Alyson who played that part was due to be arriving late after a night shift at work. Several of the team were pretty under the weather too - Ann Steer was uncertain she'd make it on stage, which would have decimated the cast. But God is good. Alyson arrived before Helen had embarrased herself too much trying to play her part in the rehearsal, and Ann was well enough to perform.
Chandler's Ford Methodist is a lovely, large, modern building with plenty of space. The choir had been trained beautifully by Chris Warren, and they sounded absolutely fabulous. The stage was an interesting shape, with banks of choir diagonally on either side, and the instrumentalists filling the empty space at the back. This did mean that the instrumentalists co
uldn't see Roger when the choir were standing, and the cast had ample opportunities to pull faces at them, but they seemed to survive ok.The performance went really well, with some interesting improvisation. Ann sang half of 'The Look of Love' from mid-way down the aisle, and then for the crucifixion, Simon walked slowly up the aisle before the music started - all very powerful. The audience was really large - people were being squeezed in with extra chairs most of the way through.
Huge thanks go to Ann Squire, Helen Cornick, Glen Shepherd and Chris Warren for making it all possible. A wonderful way to start the final tour.
No comments:
Post a Comment